Opinion: “No fly, no buy” is a commonsense proposal that has to pass as soon as possible

by Boris Epshtyen, Chief Political Analyst

(Sinclair Broadcast Group)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - A bipartisan group of senators have reintroduced a commonsense policy to protect Americans. I'm talking about the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, also known as "no fly, no buy." If this bill passes, the attorney general would be able to disqualify those on the federal No Fly or Selectee watch lists from buying a gun.

In other words, if you're not allowed to fly, you're not going to be buying a gun.

If anyone who has been on these watch lists in the last five years tries to buy a firearm, the FBI and law enforcement would be alerted.

Similar laws have been proposed in the past, but they have failed. A big reason was that many Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), were concerned that law-abiding Americans could find themselves on the No Fly or Selectee lists by mistake. They would then be denied their lawful right to buy a gun under the Second Amendment.

The previous and current versions of "no fly, no buy" resolves that problem. A very quick appeals process is built into the act. Any American disqualified from purchasing a gun can appeal to a federal court and have their case decided within just two weeks.

It is important to keep in mind that there are less than 3,000 people on the No Fly and Selectee watch lists combined.

Here is the bottom line: the No Fly and Selectee lists are the narrowest of the terror watch lists. They are only supposed to include those who pose a great threat of committing terror. It is a no-brainer to prohibit people on these watch lists from buying a gun. "No fly, no buy" should have passed in 2016 and it has to pass now.